I have been thinking about René Descartes. Descartes made a world changing discovery on November 10, 1619. Descartes was a 17th century mathematician, upper class, university educated and was well-traveled in Europe. Descartes, uneasy with his learning based upon Medieval scholasticism, couldn’t discount nagging doubt triggered by the discoveries of Galileo, by the rise…
The truths of humanism,the confidence in mankind and all the rest,still possess only the vigor of fictions,only a prosperity of shadows.The West was these truths;it is no more than these fictions, these shadows.as helpless as they,it has not been given to the West to verify them. It drags them along, exposes them,but no longer…
Perhaps you remember April 30, 1975, when NVA tanks rolled through the gates of the Presidential palace in Saigon? I was twenty six years old then. I still carry my draft card from that era in my wallet. That offensive put an end to our attempt to make Vietnam a client state, a colony…
We return home from Minnesota today. Our visit with family was a satisfying relief from the restriction on travel which has prevented contact and face to face conversation for the past year and a half. It is a delight to witness children playing and growing, maturing in interests, and capabilities. I was intellectually stimulated…
Today is the day after July the 4th, Independence Day. I joined family members to view a parade spectacle. Many community groups in town published their presence by a float, a marching band, or by some unusual vehicle, (cement mixer, etc.) The parade was pure entertainment. Free candy for the children at the curb….
Yesterday evening, Thursday prior to the G-7 meeting a media event was held showcasing a meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain. The meeting was competently choreographed, and both spoke in generalities: a typical show and tell projecting images of the leaders of the “free world.” I have doubts. …
The morning comes, and I am awake. I ought to be thankful since I am alive. I understand that. Life goes on until it does not. We are in a condition of drought here in our area. Spring is the usual “rainy season.” That is another way of saying that we get plenty of…
Yesterdays rumination touched on the thought that love or the absence of love has to do with what takes place in the space between us. Love is not a substance but our description of a negotiation — of my sense of being, of my identity in juxtaposition with yours, in the relational space that…
Let’s start out with a song. This one by the Canadian band Rush, Closer To The Heart. The tune scarcely needs any comment. Closer To The Heart By Rush And the men who hold high places Must be the ones who start To mold a new reality Closer to the heart Closer to the…
Yesterday I after months of delay I addressed the task of connecting our Toshiba combo VCR – DVD player to our new Samsung television. The older Toshiba is an analog device. Mating the old, by today’s standards, analog electronic instrument to a state of the art digital screen required some thought, and a bit…
